THE BROKEN HILL PROPRIETARY MINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9011, 26 March 1888, Page 6

THE BROKEN HILL PROPRIETARY MINE.

The special correspondent of the Melbourne Age, dating from Broken Hill, 6th March, writes :—

As much as Nevada and the surrounding country has been dependent upon the Groat Comstock mine, the township of Broken Hill looks for its prosperity to the great silver mine after which it was named, and from which at the present time nearly & thousand persons are earning substantial wages. Of course it is expected that as time goes on the other mines on the Barrier will contribute largely towards the wealth of the neighbourhood. In fact some persons are sanguine enough to express the opinion that some of the outside claims, when tully developed, will prove proportionately as wealthy as the parent property ; but at present, at any rate, the prosperity of the town rests almost entirely with the big mine, which has drawn so many hundreds ot persons across the border from South Australia, and done so much towards lessening the ranks of the unemployed. Until quite recently the Barrier country has only received attention as a cattle-rearing tract, human habitations being very few and far between, but now townships are springing up in every direction, like so many mushrooms after a genial sun shower. In the course of a chat with an old Barrier resident the other day I learned a few interesting particulars with regard to the discovery of local mineral deposits. "I have lived about this part of the country," lie said, as he perched himself on an empty cask outside trie Denver City Hotel, and commenced cutting up a stick of black twist, " for many years, and can remember the time when even cattle were scarce about here. You see that peak standing out above the Broken Hill smelters. Well, I have stood near that when not a house was to be seen about. Towards the end of ISS3 a boundary rider on the Mount Gipps station came along here with some sheep, and when he was going over the range he noticed signs of mineral deposits. Rasp, for that was his name, returned to his station, and informed the manager of his discovery, and all about the formation of the hill. The two had a look over the hill, which you see rims north-east and south-west for about a mile and a-half. That is the southern part of the hill. A big piece of the hill was secured and pegged out, and operations in the way of prospecting at once commenced, but the prospectors have much luck, and tilings began to look so shakv that a couple of shareholders in the syndicate which was formed to carry on work sold their interest. Shortly afterwards a company was formed, the syndicate of course being taken into it. 1 remember well when the station manager, Mr. MeCulloch, played Cox, the station hand, a game of euchre, to settle whether Cox should receive £120 or £150 for a fourteenth share in the property. After the company was floated I knew plenty of persons who endeavoured to get rid ol their shares at almost any price Ah, if 1 had known then What 1 do now I should have been a silver king, instead of a station hand coming into the township at intervals to lamb down my cheque." The Broken Hill mine, as nearly everybody in Australia knows, belongs to the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, the capital of which consists of 16,000 shares, "2000 of which wero issued to the public as paid up to £19 while at £0 each, and the others were retained by the following proprietors: —Messrs. W. Jamieson, W. C. Daglish, G. M'Culloch, C. Rasp, P. Charley, Solomon, K. E. Broadnbb, Wiseman, Bowes, Kelly, 1). James, W. R. Wilson, James Poole, A. W. Cox, and E. Thompson. The property was placed in charge of Mr. S. K. Wilson, who has just severed his connection with the company to take charge of the Block 14 Mine. Under Mr. Wilson's management fortunes of silver and lead were unearthed, and so abundant were the discoveries that the company found they could not satisfactorily work the whole of their property during the term of the lease— 20 years—and another company was floated to take over Block 14. Each of the shareholders in the parent company received six shares in the younger organisation, There were 100,000 shares at £5 each. Since then Blocks 15 and 16 have been successfully floated in the London market.

I was conducted to the mouth of McCulloch's shaft, which received its name after one of the original shareholders. This shaft is situated on Block 13. It has a 216 feet level, which used to bo the main tunnel, and from which the output of lead ore reached about 100 tons a day. The lode is about 120 feet in width. The drive at the western side of the lode iB 640 feet in length, and the No. 2 drive on the other side and running in the same direction is 720 feet in length. I was taken through these drives, and also along one of the crosscuts running through the lode and connecting the two main tunnels. No ore has vet been removed from above the 640 feet level. The first shaft sunk on the property bears the name of the boundary rider, Rasp, whose observations on the field resulted in the formation of a syndicate four and a-half years ago to carry on prospecting operations. It is down about 278 feet on Block 13, and has a 212 feet level extending northward and southward, at which about two years ago the mine revealed to those interested in the venture its immense buried wealth. Here it was that rich ore was met with, and in such quantities that all doubts in the minds of those holding shares in the Proprietary as to the value of the claim were immediately dispelled. The ore, taken from tho level, consisting of iron and carbonate of lead, yielded a high percentage of silver when treated, and at once stamped the property as a safe investment. In this level, to a depth of about GO feet, three winzes have been put down, and some of the ore obtained yielded as much as 1500 ounces to the ton. It is connected with McCulloch's shaft, and the visitor walking along the tunnel is astounded at the abundance and richness of the ore, and the beautiful effects caused by the light playing among tho crystals— which remind one in a large measure of the glittering transformation scenes he has witnessed at the close of some well-mounted pantomime. I make my way back to the shaft, and am soon on the surface again. Brodribb's shaft on Block 12 is down to the 208-feet level, and has two other levels, 60 feet and 132 feet respectively, from the surface. At the fifi-feet level fluxing ore is obtained, while at the 132-feet level there is silicious ironstone, carrying a good quantity of freely-distributed silver. At the other level there is carbonate of lead, which is of such a character as to pay well for working. The Broken Hill mine teems with interesting geological features, and there are some structures in Brodribb's shaft which have a tendency to capsize some of the oldest theories. Many geologists have visited the mine since the big lode was struck, and more than one of them has expressed his astonishment at the extraordinary formation of the country. One fact which is considered a pretty substantial basis for the supposition as to the permanency of the lode, is the changing of iron ore into carbonate of lead. The other shaft derives its name from Mr. W. Jamieson, another of the original shareholders, and the first general manager of the company. Sunk on Block 12 to a depth considerably below the 208 feet level, it has three compartments, two of which are utilised for winding, and the other for pumping operations. Its lovbls are 208, 142, and 76 feet respectively. The pump is now at work, but its output is not sufficient. Another larger and more powerful lot of machinery will, however, soon be got to work, and this will more successfully cope with the flow of water.

Although the mine itself is, of course, the most important part of the estate, it forms by no means the whole of the company's property, for every day throughout the week, not even Sunday being excepted, the immense iron stack sends a great volume of smoke floating over the range. There are three 80-ton smelters being worked on the water-jacket system—a system of which an explanation would occupy a good deal of space, but which metallurgists regard as a great improvement upon the more antiquated method. The old smelting plant consisted of five 30-ton furnaces on the same principle as the new plant, but these are now being taken to pieces, and the old smelting building is the scene of much hurry and bustle. The metallurgist in charge is Mr. Schlapp, besides whom there are half-a-dozen heads of shifts and about 140 hands. It is calculated that when the whole of the plant is again at work the output will reach IOO.OOOoz per week. Ore-dressing machinery, I was informed, would be got to work as soon as practicable. The silver is not separated from the lead at the mine ; but the two metals in an amalgamated form are sent to the old country to oc separated there. This is accounted for by the fact that only a low freight is incurred in shipping the bullion to the English market; while in a separated form the carriage would amount to very considerably more for silver, on account of its value and the increased risk in carrying it. To get at the value of the bars chips are cut from a hundred of them, melted into a small bar, and assayed at the assay office. Each of the bars is then stamped and shipped away. I am told all this by my guide, and am then taken to the ore bins, at the rear of the smelters, where flux and ores of # various kinds are kept separate. The ore is shovelled into the mouth of the smelters, from which very little smoke arises. A furnace is charged by alternate layers of ore and coke, and when full the blast is turned on, and the smelter is in full swing. The lead and silver go to the bottom, where it is drawn off, while the slag makes its exit at a higher level—that is if the ores are mixed properly, but sometimes it is necessary to treat the slag again after it has passed through the furnaces. From the storage bins samples of ores are taken to the

assay office, and assayed, daily to ascertain the contents, so as to determine the mixtures required for the charges of the furnaces. The slag is also assayed every morning. With a cursory look .at the portion of the property where blasting operations are being vigorously carried on, my visit ended. The shades of night were falling as I left the mine and turned my footsteps towards the township, thoroughly satisfied that no description could ever convey to the public more than a very vague idea of the value of the pro-